In this reflection we recognize a familiar liar.
Your brain is telling you something right now. Maybe that you are failing. Maybe that everyone secretly hates you. Maybe that the one mistake you made invalidates everything good you have ever done. Maybe that you should give up.
Your brain is probably lying.
Not maliciously. It is not trying to hurt you. It is trying to protect you, in its clumsy, outdated way. Your brain evolved to scan for threats. To assume the worst. To prepare you for danger. This was useful when danger meant predators and starvation. It is less useful when danger means an awkward conversation or a deadline.
The brain lies through distortion. It takes a setback and calls it a catastrophe. It takes silence and calls it rejection. It takes uncertainty and calls it doom. It magnifies the negative and minimizes the positive until the picture is warped beyond recognition.
You have believed these lies before. Remember? Remember when you were certain something was ruined and it was not? Remember when you thought you could not handle something and you did? Remember when the worst-case scenario your brain constructed never actually happened?
The brain has a track record. And that track record is spotty at best.
This does not mean you should ignore your thoughts. It means you should question them. Where is the evidence? What would I tell a friend who believed this? Have I been here before and been wrong?
Your brain is a tool. A powerful, flawed, well-meaning tool. But it is not always right. And you do not have to believe everything it says.
That voice is lying again. You are allowed to notice that.